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World War II in Colour

S1-E3 Britain at Bay

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Summary

By the end of June 1940, German forces controlled Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and France, with Britain defiant but bloodied after the retreat from Dunkirk and in no state to take on the all-conquering Nazi war machine. However, Britain still had a powerful navy and some of the finest fighter planes ever built and had also made two powerful technological breakthroughs - radar and the cracking of the German Enigma codes - that would give it a vital edge in the Battle of Britain. Prime minister Winston Churchill then began the fightback, with commando raids and help for the resistance in occupied Europe.